Week of December 2, 2024
Renewed “maximum pressure” is the strategy that Iran expects the Trump Administration to employ against its regime. To avoid “maximum pressure”, Iran pushed a depleted Hezbollah to negotiate a cease-fire deal with Israel and then Iran met with various European officials in Geneva to discuss their nuclear program, amongst other issues. Additionally, recent news reports suggest that the Iranian government has decided to forego a retaliatory military strike against Israel, fearing even worse reprisals from Trump. As a result of Iran’s apparent desire for diplomacy, we are changing our Middle East Signal to yellow.
Michael Mullenax, CFP® and Bob Bilkie, CFA
